Last night SOBER met in midtown, in Craig's apartment. Typical NYC
apartment, so he had to be inventive with seating, but a pleasant and
informative evening.

All wines were blind, even the greeting wine. A lighter framed bubbly,
just a hint of sugar, fairly low acid, bubbles dissipate fairly fast.
Dan and Cathleen quickly pegged it as not Champagne. Some suggestion
of Loire, but didn't seem Chenin-ish to me. I wondered if it could be
Italian, not Franciacortia but something like the Giacosa spumante.
Nope, it's French. It turns out to be a Cremant de Bourgogne, the
Scores Blanc de Blancs. Yes, the now defunct strip club's house
bubbly. Once $250 in the club, I think Craig said he got for under
$10. B-/C+

First flight was whites. These suffered a bit from being in kitchen
while oven was on, they all seemed rather low acid to me, but think
that was mostly temp.

#1 This was a bit unexpressive at first, but gradually unwound. White
pit fruit, some mineral, light oak notes. Fairly advanced, I'd drink
these soon. 1999 R & V Dauvissat "Les Clos" Chablis Grand Cru B/B+

#2 Most aromatic nose at first, flowers, melons, and a note someone
calls vinyl. On the ripe/tropical end, but nice. 2001 Raveneau
"Butteaux" Chablis 1er. B

#3 Smokey nose (someone calls ashtray, but not dirty to me), some
woody notes, ripe white fruit. 2001 R & V Dauvissat " La Forest"
Chablis 1er. B

I think group liked a bit more than I did, maybe more experienced at
tasting a bit warmer. Certainly I blew the oak call on the Forest.

First Red Flight (I think everyone got to Burgundy quickly)

#1 Red fruit, minty, herby. Seems to put on a little weight in
glass. 1988 Drouhin Charmes-Chambertin. B+

#2 This is pretty tight and ungiving at first. As it opens, earth and
darker fruit than its flightmates. 1988 Drouhin Latricieres-Chambertin
B+/A-

#3 Rather exotic nose- sandalwood, spice, slightly lifted. Dan made a
guess of Dujac, which I thought was on target aroma-wise. Nice on the
palate, but this started to fade while the other two were picking up
steam. 1988 Bouree Charmes-Chambertin A- at first, though it faded.

None of these seemed particularly tannic to me, I think all but the
biggest '88s are in a nice place now


Second Red Flight
#1 Red and black fruit, some tobacco and earth, someone guesses
Graves, which seems reasonable to me. No, the 1978 Burgess Vintage
Selection Cabernet Sauvignon. B+/A-

#2 A little tight, ripe cassis fruit and some lead pencil. Some
light herbal notes. 1983 Lafite Rothschild B+

Third Red Flight
#1 Light color, red fruits, a little hint of VA, some tarry/earthy
notes. I guessed older Barolo, but Craig says it's French. Some spice,
balsamic vinegar, good length. 1969 Maison Leroy Echezeaux B+

#2 Ripe cherries, earth and mushrooms, a little soy note. Quite
tasty, if a tad short on finish. 1977 Joseph Swan Sonoma Pinot Noir B+

Not blind:
1997 Fonseca Vintage Port
Raisins, caramel, kirsch, cassis, vanilla. I'm no good at making any
judgements re young Ports, I like this but have no real clue how it
stacks up against others.

1995 Kracher Grande Cuvée Trockenbeerenauslese #12
I have some friends who love Kracher, I see the quality but the style
doesn't usually mesh well with my palate, I find them a bit heavy/
cloying. But this is a bit of a revelation, with a solid core of
acidity giving it real backbone. Candied apples and apricot, honey,
molasses, but with a citric brightness. I wish I could have stayed for
a second taste of this, but the train called. A-

Very interesting lineup, fun evening, Craig did an admirable job in a
comparatively small space.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
*

On Mar 25, 9:15*am, DaleW > wrote:
> Last night SOBER met in midtown, in Craig's apartment. Typical NYC
> apartment, so he had to be inventive with seating, but a pleasant and
> informative evening.
>
> All wines were blind, even the greeting wine. A lighter framed bubbly,
> just a hint of sugar, fairly low acid, bubbles dissipate fairly fast.
> Dan and Cathleen quickly pegged it as not Champagne. Some suggestion
> of Loire, but didn't seem Chenin-ish to me. I wondered if it could be
> Italian, not Franciacortia but something like the Giacosa spumante.
> Nope, it's French. It turns out to be a Cremant de Bourgogne, the
> Scores Blanc de Blancs. Yes, the now defunct strip club's house
> bubbly. Once $250 in the club, I think Craig said he got for under
> $10. B-/C+

That strip club must have really been a clip joint. Their strippers
must not have been good enough to get customers to buy enough
sparkling wine for them. It is too bad I did not know you were going
to have strip club wine, or I could have sent you some music to make
the sparkling wine seem much better. Just before the famous old
Minsky's in NYC closed over 50 years ago, a live recording was made of
it by Emory Cook who made high end feedback record cutters. He made a
few records such as this to demonstrate the quality of records that
could be cut using his cutters. I have a copy of the original 33
record pressing, and you may still be able to get a copy of it from
the Library of Congress. The dancers doing the "French Pickup", bumps
and grinds, along with shouts and the cat calls from the audience
would likely make many increase their rating of the strip club
bubbles :-).

On Mar 25, 5:01*pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> On Mar 25, 9:15*am, DaleW > wrote:
>
> > Last night SOBER met in midtown, in Craig's apartment. Typical NYC
> > apartment, so he had to be inventive with seating, but a pleasant and
> > informative evening.
>
> > All wines were blind, even the greeting wine. A lighter framed bubbly,
> > just a hint of sugar, fairly low acid, bubbles dissipate fairly fast.
> > Dan and Cathleen quickly pegged it as not Champagne. Some suggestion
> > of Loire, but didn't seem Chenin-ish to me. I wondered if it could be
> > Italian, not Franciacortia but something like the Giacosa spumante.
> > Nope, it's French. It turns out to be a Cremant de Bourgogne, the
> > Scores Blanc de Blancs. Yes, the now defunct strip club's house
> > bubbly. Once $250 in the club, I think Craig said he got for under
> > $10. B-/C+
>
> That strip club must have really been a clip joint. Their strippers
> must not have been good enough to get customers to buy enough
> sparkling wine for them. It is too bad I did not know you were going
> to have strip club wine, or I could have sent you some music to make
> the sparkling wine seem much better. Just before the famous old
> Minsky's in NYC closed over 50 years ago, a live recording was made of
> it by Emory Cook who made high end feedback record cutters. He made a
> few records such as this to demonstrate the quality of records that
> could be cut using his cutters. I have a copy of the original 33
> record pressing, and you may still be able to get a copy of it from
> the Library of Congress. The dancers doing the "French Pickup", bumps
> and grinds, along with shouts and the cat calls from the audience
> would likely make many increase their rating of the strip club
> bubbles :-).

I think the $250 was in the "champagne room" with lap dances.
If Craig had "The Stripper" playing as music, it still wouldn't have
clued me in. I didn't know Scores had a private label.